For the second time within seven months a greater than 50-year storm affected the Delaware River Basin and its tributaries. In all, about 6,000 persons were evacuated along the Delaware and Passaic River Basins in New Jersey with about 3,200 homes damaged. New Jersey Acting Governor Richard J. Codey declared a state of emergency on April 3rd.  Somerset County was less affected than counties in the Passaic and Delaware Basins. Nevertheless, flooding did occur along the Raritan and Millstone Rivers as well as some of its tributaries.  But flooding did not exceed levels reached with Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 or the floods of January 1996.  Rain started late in the evening on the 1st and continued throughout the day on the 2nd. The rain fell at its heaviest during the afternoon of the 2nd. The rain tapered off to some spottier light rain or drizzle during the evening and overnight and ended during the morning on the 3rd. Storm totals averaged between 2 and 3.5 inches. The heavy rain and flooding forced the closure of the Griggstown Causeway and a few streets in Manville Borough. Raw sewage backed into several homes in Bernards Township.Specific storm totals included 3.55 inches in Bridgewater, 3.48 inches in Neshanic, 3.07 inches in Pottersville, 3.04 inches in Hillsborough, 2.37 inches in Somerville and 2.06 inches in Blackwells Mills.The North Branch of the Raritan River at Raritan was above its 10 foot flood stage from 1145 p.m. EST on the 2nd through 554 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 10.35 feet at 330 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. Farther downstream, the North Branch of the Raritan at South Branch was above its 7 foot flood stage from 1125 a.m. EST on the 2nd through 1239 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 8.8 feet at 6 p.m. EST on the 2nd. The main stem of the  Raritan River at Manville was above its 14 foot flood stage from 1125 p.m. EST on the 2nd through 700 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 16.96 feet at 8 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. Farther downstream at Bound Brook the Raritan River was above its 28 foot flood stage from 109 a.m. EST through 957 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 30.54 feet at 1024 a.m. EDT. The Millstone River at Griggstown was above its 10 foot flood stage from 109 p.m. EST on the 2nd through 5 p.m. EDT on the 4th. It crested at 14.65 feet at 3 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. Downstream at Weston, the Millstone River was above its 12.4 foot flood stage from 444 a.m. EDT through 620 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 13.6 feet at 10 a.m. EDT. Farther downstream, the Millstone River at Blackwells Mills was above its 9 foot flood stage from 1130 p.m. EST on the 2nd through 430 a.m. EDT on the 4th. It crested at 11.40 feet at 1027 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. The Lamington River at Burnts Mills was above its 9.5 foot flood stage from 440 p.m. EST on the 2nd through 512 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 11.0 feet at Midnight EST on the 3rd.   The flooding heavy rain was caused by a low pressure system that moved from the southern Gulf Coast States on the morning of April 1st northeast to the eastern Tennessee Valley during the evening of the 1st, to far western Virginia just after Midnight EST on the 2nd, into central Virginia at 7 a.m. EST on the 2nd, near Washington, D.C. at 1 p.m. EST on the 2nd, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. EST on the 2nd, near Scranton, Pennsylvania at 1 a.m. EST on the 3rd, over the Finger Lakes in New York at 8 a.m. EDT on the 3rd and into eastern Lake Ontario at 2 p.m. EDT on the 3rd. The strong southeast flow preceding the low pressure system was able to entrain Atlantic Ocean moisture in addition to the Gulf of Mexico moisture into the system.  The flooding was exacerbated by the already wet soil conditions due to heavy rain on both March 23rd and 28th.

Flood in SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY
From 02-APR-05 11:25:00 to 04-APR-05 16:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER